Mini-Book Review (again!)

I've zipped through 5 books in the past month or so. Had some vacation time to knock out a couple. Both fiction and nonfiction; both laughs and tears.

Blink and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell's books are great fun while they get you thinking. Blink explores intuition -- what you see and think in the first two seconds. If you are a left-brain person (like me) it's essential reading to learn to listen to and, at times, trust your right brain.
Outliers explores the people we call innovators or geniuses. We like to think of them as self-made people who, through their own sheer will, climb the stairway of success. But, as Gladwell points out, a real genius has spent over 10,000 hours honing their unique skill. Bill Gates was a teenager who was fortunate to be in Seattle when the Univ of Washington got its first supercomputer. He spent years honing his programming skills before he became an overnight sensation.

The warm, cuddly and weepy book was Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter. Definitely a chick book. Myron was the librarian who found and then cared for Dewey for the 19 years he lived at the Spencer, Iowa library. If you've ever had a cat you'll be able to relate. It's amazing how people respond to animals and how they break down barriers. The end requires Kleenex but isn't as drawn out as Marley & Me. Note this Touching Marital Moment:

Me: Sniffle, sniff, sniff
Hubby: Did you just finish the book?
Me: Uh, huh. Nodding head vigorously
Hubby: Come here. Gives me a hug and a noogie

A flat out laugh was Fifteen Minutes of Shame by Lisa Daily. The central character, Darby, gets the rugged pulled out from under her when her cheating husband flys the coop. Oh, did I mention that Darby is a nationally syndicated dating and relationship expert? And her husband is her publicist? And she throws up on Matt Lauer?

The Department of Lost and Found by Allison Winn Scotch is a more serious tale about Natalie, an ambitious politico who is diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30. It sounds more sad than it is. Winn Scotch has a gift for finding the humor and lessons in something as dire as cancer. I was impressed with her writing skill as she walked that fine line between (a) depressing topic and (b) telling an uplifting tale. This was a book that stayed with me for days after I was done. Plus I think Winn Scotch has a great name for a writer.

So that brings us up to date. Looking for our old copy of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown only to have Hubby remind me that we sold it last year during our cleaning purge. So I'm on the hunt!